South Sequoia League Roundup

Week 2

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By Dennis McCall

Taft Midway Driller - Taft, CA

By Dennis McCall

Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 11:09 AM

By Dennis McCall
Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Five of the seven South Sequoia League teams got off to winning starts last week, including defending champion Wasco, but the Tigers have by far the toughest assignment as everyone heads into their second week.

Wasco, which made a shambles of Division IV last year en route to a 13-0 season, will stick its chin out tonight with a trip to D-I powerhouse Bakersfield High.

And the Drillers are in a really bad mood after dropping a 51-50 shootout to Oaks Christian down south last week.

In their opener at home last week, the Tigers picked up where they left off last year by pasting Mira Monte 63-6, behind junior Isiah Sharp’s five touchdown, 166-yard effort – all in the first half.

The Tigers romped the way they usually do – with a punishing ground game. They ran for 405 yards and threw just one pass, a 45-yard completion.

Besides Wasco, the other SSL winners were:

Arvin 16, Highland 13

Shafter 42, Strathmore 14

Chavez 12, Porterville-Granite Hills 6

Kennedy 42, Fresno-Roosevelt 41

Losing their openers were the Taft Wildcats, a 21-20 heart-breaker at Golden Valley on a botched PAT try (also missed a field goal); and Bakersfield Christian, a 32-10 setback to San Luis Obispo. Both were on the road.

Tonight:

Foothill at Arvin

BCHS at Central Valley Christian

Delano at Chavez

Strathmore at Kennedy

Shafter at Granite Hills

Coalinga at Taft

Wasco at Bakersfield

Seeking turnaround

Jarudd Prosser’s Wildcats will be looking to reverse fortunes against Coalinga in the first of four consecutive home games. The last two haven’t been close. The Horned Toads won 44-7 last year in Coalinga.

That was a lawn party compared to what happened here the year before when Coalinga scored 35 points in the first quarter and led 56-7 at the half before a running clock shortened the nightmare. The final was 59-15.

Bad news for the Wildcats:

Next week’s opponent, Exeter, used a punishing defense to throttle Tehachapi 17-7 last week. Austin Cardoza ran 29 times for 153 yards and a touchdown while the Monarch defense held Tehachapi to 156 yards on the ground and just two yards passing.

Scoreboard overload

Porterville High won its season opener 80-54 over Mt. Whitney, but the 134 total points was chump change compared to last year’s 86-79 spectacle against Tulare Union. Not surprisingly, that one set a state scoring record.